5 Silly Things You Say To Decrease Your IELTS Speaking Band Score

December 5, 2016Vaibhavi Karad

On the day of your IELTS speaking exam, you are nervous and due to this nervousness, you are likely to make some silly mistakes. Being aware of such silly errors in order to prevent speaking faulty statements can help you to avoid getting lowered band score in IELTS speaking. So, let us find out what these silly mistakes are and what you should do to avoid them.Over Use of Idioms
You must be told in your IELTS speaking training sessions that usage of idioms can help you score high band score. Though using idioms are definitely the indicators of high band score but these are not the only factors that determine good score. A lot of other things should be kept in mind simultaneously such as sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary, content etc. The misconception of using idioms more than enough leads to lower band score in IELTS speaking because you would be penalized for overly using them. Hence, use idioms only when it is required to add cohesion in your speaking and this can happen when you concentrate on answering the question effectively rather than merely using idioms.Using Connectives Excessively
As is the case with idioms, similarly, you should avoid using sentence connectors in excess, during your IELTS speaking exam. Sentence connectors are the words or phrases that help us to connect our ideas. Moreover, therefore, however, on the other hand, in comparison to this etc. are some of the connectives that are good indicators of Band 7 or above. But some students take this for granted and try to use more and more connectives which ultimately reduce the band score in IELTS speaking. So, one should use connectives only when it is needed so that it comes out naturally and does not look mechanical as if used forcefully.Incorrectly Using Advanced Vocabulary
Vocabulary of the advanced level is the key to score at least Band 8 or above but do not consider it as the only key. Fluency, coherence, cohesion, grammar and punctuation are the other key areas as well that are to be included for achieving high band score in IELTS speaking. There are some students who have the list of uncommon words but they lack good band score in other areas.
How you should use advanced vocabulary then? Practice is the key, first of all and you should also remember that it is better to use those words you are confident about rather than those from tough vocabulary that you are unsure of. Keep on learning the advanced words and getting exposed to those new words by listening to podcasts, songs or watching movies, videos, talk shows, interviews, group discussions and most importantly, try to speak them yourself. Reading these words in newspapers, magazines etc. and then writing your own sentences is also an effective way of learning to use the advanced vocabulary naturally in IELTS speaking test.Losing Control and Saying Fillers Excessively
In IELTS speaking, fluency and coherence are significant factors that give great impacts on your speaking. But saying fillers in between affect them and causes hindrance in letting the listener understand your talk. Fillers such as ahm, er, ah etc. are quite common. Though 100% free from fillers may not be possible, at least controlling to speaking more and saying fillers less would make a big difference in your band score, while saying them more often would lessen your band score like anything by leaving poor impression on the examiner.Saying More Off-Topic
Sticking to the main topic is an extremely essential thing. Some students, in order to be more fluent, try to speak more and more which distracts them from the main topic. This happens in cue card section as well as in the follow-up part of the IELTS speaking test. Whenever you feel that you are getting out of track, immediately switch yourself on the right path which is nothing but the main question asked by the examiner.